That's great if you're writing an instruction manual, but isn't the point of writing literature to create clear images in the mind of the reader without having to say "The brown and black german sheppard, weighing 43 lbs and standing approximately 1 1/2 feet to the shoulder, jumped 3' 4" inches to clear the top of a hand-build, sandstone wall"? Isn't that why we have things like metaphore and allegory and cultural context?
Writing like that makes the fake sciency bits sound more real, and that's why people like his books and movies, it's dumbed-down nonsense with no real meaning that any moron can lap up.
That's great if you're writing an instruction manual, but isn't the point of writing literature to create clear images in the mind of the reader without having to say "The brown and black german sheppard, weighing 43 lbs and standing approximately 1 1/2 feet to the shoulder, jumped 3' 4" inches to clear the top of a hand-build, sandstone wall"? Isn't that why we have things like metaphore and allegory and cultural context?
Or am I missing your point?
Writing like that makes the fake sciency bits sound more real, and that's why people like his books and movies, it's dumbed-down nonsense with no real meaning that any moron can lap up.
There’s definitely a segment of readers who geek out on the science and math that Weir frequently puts into his books.
He caters to those types of readers. I think the Martian movie just took his books mainstream.